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Q&A
Measuring the success of the Bridge to Home program
0:20:07
ยท
129 sec
Dr. Mitch Katz explains how the success of the Bridge to Home program will be measured, focusing on key outcomes and indicators.
- The primary measure of success will be how many people can be moved from the program into permanent housing.
- Other indicators include hospitalization rates, incarceration rates, and how many people choose to stay in the program.
- Dr. Katz emphasizes that the program's success will be evident if it can provide a better alternative to living on the streets for homeless individuals with severe mental illness.
Mercedes Narcisse
0:20:07
Fully in agreement.
0:20:08
How do you anticipate measuring the success of Bridge to Home?
Dr. Mitch Katz
0:20:13
I think the most important success and why Bridge is in the title would be how many people can you move from the bridge ultimately into permanent housing?
0:20:25
Because otherwise, there'll be no flow and whatever you build, you'll fill and then you'll still have people who need it.
0:20:32
So the program works best if you if you can move people along.
0:20:38
And I've certainly seen that if you give people steady nutrition, steady medications, and you don't subject them to the stress of living on the street, people can look very different in three months.
Kristy Marmorato
0:20:53
Mhmm.
Dr. Mitch Katz
0:20:53
But they don't look very different in fourteen days.
0:20:57
You in fourteen days you make progress.
0:20:58
Mhmm.
0:20:59
You may stop the very loud voices, but what you really need is two to three months depending on the person.
0:21:08
And so I'd say definitely the most important criteria would be, of success would be how many people do you are you able to discharge to permanent housing?
0:21:20
I'd say other things we'll be looking at is what's the hospitalization rate back because this is meant to prevent that.
0:21:26
So how many people wind up back in the hospital?
0:21:30
How many people wind up at Rikers, crimes that are committed?
0:21:34
How many people stay?
0:21:36
Because again, my view always is when you're talking about homeless people, it shouldn't be that hard to make a value proposition.
0:21:44
I mean, they're not going to live in a luxury apartment house.
0:21:48
Right?
0:21:48
They're going to be on the streets, on the subway.
0:21:51
It should be pretty easy to create something with thoughtful people that people wanna stay.
0:21:57
And if people stay again, you won't have the issues that that so, you know, upset people of walking by and seeing people on grates, you know, against against buildings, you know, eating out of garbage cans, the things that we all find so distressing.